With several sources making claims that President Joseph Nyuma Boakai is being pressured by top politicians to remove heads of integrity institutions in the country despite their tenures not being completed, several civil society groups have cautioned the President not to yield to the demand of “vicious elements” bent on derailing him from his intent of raiding the country of corruption and setting up a new dawn where accountability and transparency will take roots in this country. The CSO groups urged President Boakai to resist all the demands from politicians to dismiss, without a cause, the heads of integrity institutions in the country.
Rising from their emergency meeting held recently in Kakata, Margibi County, to deliberate on the implications of the Transparency International Corruption Index Report on Liberia, the group said it was “unfortunate at this time when concentration should be placed on knowing why corruption continues to damage the country and solutions put in place to avert this trend unscrupulous individuals are hatching plans to remove the heads of the integrity institutions in the country, which is not only worrisome but counter-productive to what the Boakai administration hopes to achieve.
“While these midnight moves are gaining traction in the minds of those who are believed to be close to the President, we want to sound out an early caution that Mr. President should not yield to these obvious diabolical games to undermine his agenda to fight corruption.
“One would have been inclined to agree for the removal of the heads of integrity institutions if the reasons were based on loss of public trust, corruption and other vices, but to premise your argument that you want to create jobs for your partisans and the only way of achieving it is to dismiss people who are not only eminently qualified to hold the offices they are occupying but have been doing exceptionally well, should not be tolerated,” the groups said.
The groups, Clean Democracy Liberia, Corruption Free Liberia and Action Against Corruption and Impunity, said their decision to oppose the “reactionary tendencies of these individuals in the dark” was to send out a caveat against those who want to “do business as usual” for personal gains at the detriment of the country and its people. “…We will not sit down supinely to see these people gaining relevance in the high corridors of power in this country,” the groups maintained.
The groups also spoke on the corruption report against Liberia, terming it “alarming and embarrassing. It implies that corruption has gotten deeper in almost all fabric of the country, and should be a challenge to the government to rise up to the occasion in order to correct all the errors that have promoted and sustained this scourge in our country”.
The group said one of the ways to achieve in the fight against corruption is for the government to provide the necessary funding to the integrity institutions and allow them the free hand to operate without any undue interference, especially from the Executive branch.
“As this President came to power on the mantra of fighting corruption and has even made a public statement to make it public enemy number one, he has to go beyond this by empowering the integrity institutions, such as giving them the necessary support through adequate budgetary allocation and free hands to do their work without any undue interference. His intent will be realizable if he is proactive enough to discourage any suggestion that will make him declare any unnecessary collision with the heads of the integrity institutions,” the groups added.
The groups, in their closing statement, commended integrity institutions for their effort in staying the course and working together in the interest of the country, with particular emphasis given to the effort of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) regarding asset declaration.
“It can be recalled that in recent times the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA), Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) and the Liberia Extractive Integrity and Transparency Initiative (LEITI) signed among themselves to create a synergy that will enhance their operations and fight against corruption in the country. Our eagle eyes are also beaming on you, and will not relent to expose anything negative that will not make the war against corruption to succeed,” the groups observed.